Romero-led Pacifica plans to bid for Subic diesel plant

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed Pacifica Inc. said yesterday it plans to bid for the Subic diesel-fired power plant project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Pacifica said its board approved “to bid or submit proposal for the lease, operation and maintenance of the Subic diesel power plant (SDPP) project.”

Pacifica, however, did not provide other details of the plan.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is bidding out the 116-megawatt SDPP after it was turned over to it by the government last year.

The plant was commissioned in 1994 through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement between National Power Corp. (Napocor) and US-based Enron Corp.

The bidding will likely be held early next month.

But Pacifica said the board also approved the company’s move “to enter into a consortium agreement with R-II Builders Inc. for purposes of the bidding or submission of the pre-qualification requirements and proposal for the SDPP project.”

The company has been participating in various auctions of the government-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

Earlier, Pacifica, led by port operator Michael Romero, also expressed interest in the contracted capacity of the 1,200-MW Ilijan combined cycle power plant but did not submit any bid during the auction.

It also participated in the bidding of the contracted capacities of the San Roque, Bakun and Benguet hydroelectric power plants but failed to win during the bidding.

The company was incorporated on Sept. 2, 1957 to engage in exploration, drilling and exploitation of oil, gas and other volatile substances. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved its conversion into a holding company in 2000.